Safety-tread.



J. O. FOWLER.

SAFETY TREAD.

APPLICATION man 0CT.25,1910.

Patented J an. 18, 1916.

sn 'rsra JONATHAN O. FOWLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SAFETY-TREAD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 18, 1916.

Application filed October 25, 1910. Serial No. 588,995.

7 '0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JONATHAN O. FOWLER, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a cer tain new and useful Safety-Tread, of which the following is a specification, the same being a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the device, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. i j I This invention relates to non-slipping devices and particularly to sandals or horseovershoes, or hoof attachments for horses or other animals, designed to afford a firm footing or secure hold in places where the smoothness of the surface is such as to cause slipping or sliding, or to render a grip or solid hold difiicult.

An object of the invention is to provide a substantial and durable attachment, detachable from the foot, and adapted to inclose the hoof, and comprising at least one detachable or disconnectible member having .a 1011- gitudinal and transverse series of contactpoints or retaining edges or faces adapted to engage a smooth Surface with a friction con tact, and to penetrate or cut into ice or snow, and thereby afford a firm grip or footing.

Additional objects of the invention will be apparent in the further description of the invention setting forth devices of the character described, the same being of simple construction, and forming in operation a durable and eflicient organization.

To attain the desired end the invention consists in novel devices and combinations of devices as hereinafter explained.

In order to enable the invention to be more clearly understood I shall proceed to explain the same by reference to the drawings which accompany and form a part of this specification. and in which Figure 1 is a. bottom view of the hoof showing my device applied thereon; Fig. 2 is a side view. of thesame;Figs. 3 and 4: and Figs. 5, 6 and 7 are respectively views in detail of separable calk supports. constructed according to my invention; Fig; 8 a bottom View of the hoof illustrating another device constructed according to my invention appliedthereon; Fig. 9 is aside view of the same; and Fig. 10 is another bottom view of the hoof showing still another device embodying my invention applied thereon.

Like letters and numerals of reference indicate like arts 11 all the views.

Referringparticularly by reference characters or symbols to the drawings. A denotes the foot of a horse, B a horse shoe which may be of an" mu table or a proved construction, and'C the protecting detachable attachment,or sandal, or overshoe. The arrangement of the sandal is preferably such that the frog will not be injured as the center of the hoof is not covered, and, as the working parts of the overshoe lie adjacent to the metal horse shoe, no corns can result from its use. The said sandal or overshoe provides a separable tread preferably located at least at the toe of the foot, and comprising a calk preferably. detachable from the tread and preferably formed with a plurality of contact faces which in use may be respectively angularly disposed; and a preferably detachable holder for the calk comprising (1) a preferably separable support for the calk and tread holding means lying over the shoe and passing up onto the hoof, and (2) calk positioning means lying at one side of a calk contact face and independent thereof, and detachable therefrom, to keep the calk in operative position, and also means for attachment of the tread tothe hoof, as will be more fully set forth below.

My safety-tread provides one or more calk-holders comp-rising two members,- namely, calk supports proper, as D, and tread holding means, as links E, F, and E, F, L, the said calk-holders being either of sectional construction, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or integral in conformation, as illustrated in Figs. 8 and 9, as 1, 2, 3 and 4. a The calks may be either of single unitary construction, as the links J, having a single contact face, or of plural conformation, as spaced calks, or a calk having a plurality of spaced contact faces of opposing inclinations, as for example one made in the form of a coil, as J. The calk supports, as D,

are preferably made of duplex construction and of varying thickness, as for example, those illustrated in Figs. 5 to 7 where the two members (5 d of the supports D may have a slot at either end, the said slots opening in opposite directions andarranged.

so that when the said membersuare assembled, that portionof the calk holdercoma prising the links E may be held therebetween and the whole kept detachably' -fas tened together by attaching thereto suitable independent calk positioning devices, as the. detachable rivets j, which latter elements he at one side of a calk, contact faceand are separable therefrom and preferably serve to detachably secure th'ecalk andc alk sup port together and to hold the whole ClQYlCQ together as an entirety and the calk in operative position at will, and to prevent it from being forced out of the same by the pounding of the liorses foot. Or, if preferred, the calk support D may consist of two members cZ', (Z as shown in Figs. 3 and i, curved in opposite directions at their central portions so as to loosely hold in the opening formed by said concave bends'that portion of the calk-holder comprising the links or, if preferred, the calk holders 1, 2, 3 and l in Figs. 8 to 10. After the parts are assembled, calks, as J, may be slipped over the members (Z (Z and the parts held in position by suitable means, as rivets 7', the whole support in this case being practically integral. 7

Owing to the preferred looseness of the connections between the parts D and E, the adjacent projecting longitudinal and transverse retaining portions, or series or contact points of the same, shown at J, (Z and ein Fig. 1, will lie at somewhat different angles relative to each other each t1me the animal steps on the ground, the angular difference of the lines of said contact points, or the positioning means and to produce an increased cramping or friction effect'which tends to prevent any slipping or sliding of the sandal or overshoe either when two spaced calks, as. J, or when two spaced portions or contact faces of the same calk, as J,

are used, in which latter case any considerable movement of the parts is not necessary, the same being dependent upon the tightness of the adjustment of the hoof attachment means. V I Y The parts of my sandal or overshoe are preferably arranged in the general shape of ahorse shoe and the calk-holding device'is held on the hoof of the horse by that part of the same comprising "a suitable tread holding means made either integrally or of sectional construction and lying over the shoe and passing up onto the'hoof, as a link or'series oflinks E, F, and E, F, which front calk holding means E, F may preferably be secured tobands, as G, forming hoof attachment means, ordinarily conresting against the metal horse shoe. .,free ends of the. front calk-holding means "may also" be held in position by the hoof structed of flexible material, and the rear tread iholding: means E, F may ordinarily be secured to the said. band G andalso to by being covered with leather 'or rubber and passes across the rear of the hoof and secured from downward displacement by The attachment meanscomprising a band, as H, having-a buckle of suitable description and passing across the front of the hoof. The parts G, G and H may be made either of thin sheet metal or woven fabric.

,From the above description it will be noted that the detachable and replaceable calks, as'J, J are ordinarily used in connection with a detachable calk-holding device comprising calk support and tread holding members, which may be integral, and also with a detachable calk positioning means, as 7', lying at oneSide of the calk and separate therefrom, to secure the calk and calkholding devices together, and that the said entire tread is held in place by hoofattachment means.

It will be seen that the calk positioning means is located exterior, and lies at one side,- of a calk contact face, but independent thereof, to prevent lateral movement of the calk along the longitudinal axes of the holder and contact of the calk, and that it also has means to engageand disengage the tread at will to afford retaining means to secure together both the holder and the calk in operative position, when, engaged with the tread, and the whole devicetogether as an entirety. i

In Figs. 8 to 10 the safety-tread is represented as comprising calk-holding devices consisting of a plurality of integral heavy round wire hooks, as 1, 2, 3 and 4:, connected together by means of two links 5 and 6, as in Fig, 10, which preferably cross each other. The hooks 1, 2, 3 and fl are constructed and arranged to be interposed be tween the foot of the animal and the ground and to be turned upward over the hoof. At the pointwhere the said hooks turn upwardly I provide positioning means, as for example the use of nuts or washers 7, or by widening the said hooks thereat, for keeping the calks 8 in operative working condition. Thecalks 8 are sometimes made loose or disconnected from and relatively movable as regards each other. Owing, in such cases, to theflooseness of the elongated calks the several series of contact points or contact faces of the same will lie at somewhatdifferent angles relative to each though any considerable movement of the said parts is notvessential to the operation:

of the other parts of the invention as was stated in regard to the elongated links J J The calks 8 may be readily detached from the hooks which support the same by opening the loops on the ends of'the said books.

and are preferably made in' loop form through which the hoof-attachment means comprising a strap or band, as 9, prefer:

ably made of woven fabric or leather, is passed, which band is ordinarily fastened to the upper portionsof the hooks 1 and 2, and the free ends ofthelatter, asil, which may extend either in an upward or downward direction, may be connected with the hoof attachment means in the ordinary manner by fabrics or by the means of a band 10 which may serve to tie the parts 1 and 2 together, the extreme end of the bandlO being secured to a buckle 11. The hooks 2 and 4 may be connected by a link 12 and the hooks 1 and 3 by a link 13, which links may cross each other, the hooks 1 and 2 being also in that case preferably connected by a link 14:. Or the longitudinally disposed links may be arranged so as not to cross each other as shown at 12 and 13 in Fig. 8; In

this latter embodiment of the invention the calks are designated by the numeral 8, which calks provide spaced contact faces, which may obviously be of integral construction, as for example, being made in the manner illustrated in Figs. 1 and2 at J, wherefore the calks may be provided with either a single contact face, as J, or with dual or plural spaced contact faces, as J, or with multiple spaced contactfaces, as 8. In the embcdiment last. described the members of the calk-holding device comprising the calk supporting means andjthetread holding means are of integral construction, wherefore the said calk-holding device may be either of sectional construction, as the parts D, E, F or D,E,,F inFigs. 1 andQ, or they may be of integral conformation, as the parts 1, 2, 3 andai in Figs. 8 tom. The number of the calks and also ofthe'calkholding devices may be reduced as may be desired in order to make the tread of lighter weight and of simplerconstruction. The calk positioning means is shown inc-Figs. 1 to 7 as the rivet j and in Figs. 8 to 10 asthe nut 7, in both of whichcases it is inclependent of the calk-holder before being attached to the same and is also detachable at will. The calk-holding device denoted by the characters F, E, D, L, F, and that also denoted by the characters 1, 13, 3, extends in an' irregular line from one side of the hoof attachment means to the other,in,both of which instances the calks J and 8 are suported bythe same under the shoe.

The coils J comprise a plurality of convolutions which are relatively movable and yieldable. .In instances where oppositely disposed movable coils J are employed as calks in lieu of the plurality of rings shown at 8 in Fig. 10, the action of the horse in first putting his toe to the ground to obtain a foothold and then in exerting a strain on. the safety tread in a relatively backward direction will, due to thefriction between the calks and the ground, tend to compress the co-nvolutions of the sidewise disposed front coils 8, whichaction willsomewhat move them relatively forward on their supportso far as the limiting positioning means will permit, and somewhat increase the dis tancebetween the latter and the practically alined rear coils 8. Upon raising his foot again, the said convolutions will exert a reactive force against the positioning means owing to the removal of the strain upon them and will again vresume their normal positions.

Itwill be noted in this connection that in all of the figures a continuous metallic connecting means extends between the calks and the, hoof attachment means, and in Figs. 8 to 10 the calks are secured to the hoofattachment means by means of intermediate integral wire calk-holding devices comprising the hooks 1, 2, 3 and 4t. Obviously, any parts of either embodiment of the invention described may be substituted for similar operating parts in the other embodiment, the invention consisting in this particular of a metallic calk-holder extending downward from the hoof attachment means at one side of the-foot, across the hoof, and upwardagain at the opposite side of the latter, providing at least one strand having a sort of U-shaped conformation and supporting at approximately the central part thereof a calkhaving spaced and opposing, or non-alined, contact faces. Additional calk supporting meansmay beused in conjunction with that. referred to, as for example, with the calk-holder or tension strand F, E, D, L, F, extendingacross the hoof, a metallic connection between the calk and hoof attachment, as the strand comprising the parts E, F, intermediate the ends of the other strand, may be employed; and with thetension strand 1, 18, 3, extending across the hoof. ametallic connection between the calk and fhoof attachment means, as the strand 14, 2, intermediate'the ends of the other strand, may be employed. I

The calk supports D and also the loops at the ends of the hooks 1, 2, 3 and 1 may also serve to afford additional friction means, or contact faces, and to that extent they; alsomayserve to act as calks.,-The

r so

elongated: ring'calks lcili .and' 8 are not claimed specifically in this application, as, they are claimed in va continuing applica-i tion hereof filed Oct. 15,1912, SerialfiNo.

skilled in the art'f r \Vhat- I claim asmy: invention is '1'. In an overshoe of the class described, a separable safety tread comprisingthe .fol lowing elements: a 'non slipping' call: 'tof. bear'upon and act in cooperation with the tread portion and having means toengageand disengage the sameat will, means for attachment of the tread to the hoof, an intermedi ate holder for the calk having means to engageand disengage both the call: and

hoof attachment means at will, and calk positioning means located exterior and lye ing at one side of a calk contact face -to prevent movement of the calkand to engage and disengage the tread atwill and to secure the calk and holder in operative position.

2'. In an overshoeof the class described, a separable safety tread comprising the; following elements a non-slipping calk to bear upon and act in cooperation with the tread portion and having means to engage and disengage the same at'will, 'meansfor'at tachment of the tread to the hoof, an intermediate holder-for the calk'lying acrossthe toe of the hoof and having means to engage both the calk and hoof attachment means, and calk positioning means located exterior and lying at one sideof a: calk contact face and having means to prevent movement of the calla and toengage and disengage-the tread at will and to securethe device -togetherin operative position as an entirety; 3.111 an overshoe of the'class described, a non-slipping calk having'a plurality of spaced and non-alined contact faces and arranged to bear upon and act in: coeperatio'n with the tread portion and having means to engage and dlsengage the same at will, means for attachment of the tread to the hoof, an intermediate holder for the 'calk having means to engage both the. calk and hoof attachment means at will, and call: positioning means located exterior and lying at one side of a calkcontact face-to engage and disengage the tread at will and to secure the device together in operative position as an entirety. a i I 4. In an overshoe of the class described, a non-slipping call; havinga plurality of contact faces and arranged to bear-"upon and to act in cooperation with the tread portion and having means to engage and "disengage'the same'at will, means for'attachmentof the tread to the hoof, an intermediate holder for the calk lyingacross the toe of the hoof and having means toengage both, the \calkandhoof attachment means at will, and call: p0; sitioning means, ,-locaited exterior and lying at :one side ofanalk contactfaceand having means toprevent movement-of the calk, and

toaengageeand disengage. the tread at will;

and to secure the device together inoperative p s ion as a ent y-i: E ;v

5., vIn ancovershoepflthe class ;descri bed,a non-slipping ealk to bear upon a and actin;

coeperation with. the tread portion and hav ingmeansto engage and d sengage the same 6. -In an'overshoe-o-f the classdescribed,

a tread portion comprising an attachable and detachable calk, hoof attachment means, 1,;

metallic calk holding means extending in an irregular Ushapedlinefrom. each side 'ofthe hoof attachment means toward'the'other to'support the call:- at the toe. ofcthe hoof under the shoe andattachable' to and detachable from the calk and hoof attachment means, and attachable and detachable calk positioning means located exterior and lying at one side of a calk contactface but independent thereof 1 and having means to engage and disengage-the tread at will to af-; ford retaining-means to secure the calk in operative: position, when engaged with the tread, and the device togeth'er as'an en-i tirety. I

7. In'an overshoe of theclassdescribed, a

tread portion comprisingan attachable and detachable calk, hoof attachment means, metallic calk holding means extending in .an

irregular line in substantial 'U-shapefrom tact face to holdthe device together as-an entirety.

8. In anlovershoe of the class described, a separable safety'tread comprising'the following elementsa-a non-slipping calk to bear upon and act in coeperation with the tread portion and" having means to engage and disengage the same at will, means for attachment of the tread to the hoof, an intermediate' holde'r-for the calk located adjacent ii a to and under the forward part of the hoof and having means to engage and disengage both the calk and hoof attachment means at Will, and calk positioning means located exterior and lying at one side of a calk con tact face to engage and disengage the tread at Will and to secure the calk and holder in operative position, in combination With supplemental calk contact faces supported by the said holder so as to lie adjacent to the 7 rear portion of the hoof.

9. In an overshoe of the class described, a

separable safety-tread comprising the following elements: a non-slipping calk to bear upon and act in cooperation with the tread portion and having means to engage and disengage the same at Will, means for attachment of the tread to the hoof, an intermediate holder for the calk comprising a plurality of connected sections lying across the toe of the hoof and having means to engage both the call: and hoof attachment In testimony of the foregoing specification I do hereby sign the same in the city of New York, county and State of New York, this 24th day of September, 1910.

JONATHAN O. FOWVLER.

WVitnesses B. Hnx'rnn, HERTHA WOELFLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

